Anyone that knows me knows that traveling is a passion of mine. Exploring new places – whether a getaway that’s a 2 hour drive away or a big trip that’s a 15 hour plane ride away – always has a way of reinvigorating me and making me feel more alive.
In becoming a mother, I’ve felt this strong sense to keep doing the things that I enjoy – many of the things that make me, me.
With baby in tow, we started off going on weekend road trips to visit family soon after she was born. In fact, we took Camryn on her first little road trip to my parents’ beach house when she was just a few weeks old. Our little lady has become a decent road tripper, so we felt it was time to go bigger… Cam’s first plane ride!
A few weeks ago, we went on our first family of 3 vacation to San Diego. My husband and I spent 10 years living in California and we miss it terribly, so it seemed like a great idea to make our first vacation with our baby girl be an area we know and love. The plan was to spend time with some of our friends there, revisit some favorite places, adventure around to new spots – & very importantly, soak up the sunshine! We were in desperate need of some Vitamin D.
Our trip was exactly the northeast winter escape and change of scenery that I was craving! Today I’m sharing some trip highlights (including the food of course!)…
Conquering our first flights with baby.
Camryn did well on her first big trip! There was very little sleeping as pictured above – She snoozed a totally of 45 minutes & was awake for 5 1/2 hours pretty much both ways – & I did lots of walking around to entertain her, but she was a happy traveler smiling at everyone who engaged with her.
She cranked for a minute during one of the descends and a bit during the flight home, but thank the universe we had no major freak outs!
Where we stayed…
We elected to stay in one of the most picturesque areas of San Diego, La Jolla. Since I was pretty sure we were going to return to our room for the night early in the day with a 6 month old who’s used to Eastern time, I got us a nice suite overlooking the ocean at La Jolla Cove Hotel & Suites. The hotel is in the midst of a needed upgrade, but the views and location are fabulous, and the staff was very accommodating.
My hotel choice worked out great, and we spent a few happy hours drinking wine on the balcony and watching the sunset.
A vegan chocolate peanut butter cupcake makes an oceanfront happy hour even sweeter
Camryn liked sitting on the balcony looking out at the people and scenery below, and when in our room we kept the door open so we could listen to the sounds of the ocean and sea lions chattering.
Our La Jolla location was also nice for being able to walk out of our hotel and venture around town. We put some serious miles on our new travel stroller!
I had fun taking Camryn inside her first ever cave one afternoon (pictured below)!
We also got amazing winter weather! At 75 degrees and sunny, we spent as much time outdoors as we possibly could. This made for a tired baby (and content, tired parents) by the end of each day. My finicky sleeper wound up adjusting to the time difference way better than I expected, which was such a lovely surprise.
I played a 12-hour baby lullaby YouTube video every night to drown out outside noise, which must have worked well, because she slept awesome 8-10 hour stretches the whole trip! I could hardly believe it.
My favorite excursions.
Torrey Pines hike.
One day, the three of us headed over to the area of Del Mar to go for a coastal hike at Torrey Pines. It’s so pretty there, and we soaked up the beauty and relaxed on the beach for a bit after we hiked down to it.
My beach babe
San Diego Zoo.
Adam worked for the first few days we were there, leaving me a couple days for girl time. One of the days Camryn and I spent the day with my cousin Noelle (who lives in San Diego), and one of the things we did was go to the San Diego Zoo.
San Diego has a great zoo, and I hadn’t been there in a number of years. It was such a nice day out and we got our steps in walking around a good amount of the massive, awesome zoo.
This was Camryn’s second time to a zoo – the first was the Bronx Zoo – and she cracks me up how she just stares at the animals all wide-eyed. Pictured below, she was impressed with the penguin and shark exhibit!
Little Italy Mercato.
The Saturday morning we were in town, we met one of my girlfriends at my favorite farmers market, the Little Italy Mercato.
This farmers market has always been pretty hopping, but wow, it’s gotten more amazing in the past few years! It’s bigger and better than ever.
Camryn’s farmers market outfit was one of my favorites of the whole trip! I live to dress my baby in adorable clothes 🙂
Carlsbad beach day.
Another day of the trip, the three of us revisited our old town, walked around and hung out on the beach for awhile – where I captured probably my favorite photo of my little one during the whole trip:
Sunset beach picnic.
One evening, we met up with my cousin to have dinner on the beach. The sky was cloudy and colorful, making for some fun photos.
This was Camryn’s first beach sunset picnic. It’s one of my favorite things to do, and there will be many more picnics in my little lady’s future!
My favorite eats.
Of course, I can never got on vacation without eating good food! I certainly ate a ton of delicious food in San Diego, as I hit up some of my favorite joints and tried out some new places too. Here are snapshots of my favorite eats:
Burgers and fries from vegan joint Plant Power. We stopped here right from the airport and it hit the spot!
Donuts from the infamous Donut Bar. Their donuts are ridiculous – a sweet tooth lover’s dream!
We visited La Jolla’s rooftop vegan eatery + yoga studio, Trilogy Sanctuary, twice during the trip, as we stayed only a short walk away. They make such tasty, wholesome food! Plus, their casual outdoor space is perfect for dining out with a baby.
Brie + mozzarella + asparagus pizza from a restaurant we stopped at for lunch post-farmers market….molto bene!
Veggie + tofu Pad Thai from a Thai restaurant we stumbled upon while walking around for dinner one night. Pad Thai is one of my favorite Asian dishes!
Salt & Straw makes to-die for ice cream. My cup was filled with their salted caramel cupcake flavor. I’m now drooling for more!
If I had to sum up my getaway to San Diego in one word, I’d say it was WONDERFUL. Through & through, I had the best time!
We returned home just as the coronavirus started to flair up here in the U.S., so while I’m eager to plan more travel this year, for now we will stay put, try to keep ourselves healthy, and wait it out to see how things play out. I’m sending healthy vibes out to all of the my readers! We are all citizens of the world, and I hope that we are able to contain this virus soon.
Tell me… Where was your latest trip to?
Have you had to cancel plans because of the coronavirus?
Traveling with a baby takes everything to a whole other level! Love all the photos you took. Looks like a fabulous vacation for you all
This looks like such a fun time! And omg…. THE FOOD!!!
I need to make my way to San Diego sometime soon! Laura just went out there a couple of weeks ago for a conference (right before coronavirus kicked up big time), and she loved it. Of course, I was back home with Robbie and VERY jealous at her weather out there. Glad you guys had so much fun back in your old stomping grounds! I’ve already had a couple of curling tournaments cancelled due to coronavirus which is a total bummer, but in the grand scheme of things not that big of a deal. Stay healthy, my friend!